Verb (imperative): attentively reflect on and contemplate with respectful consideration.

The UAE is diverse nation. Cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are melting pots of people from around the world. Al Zubair Animal Care in Sharjah. Taxi stands in Ajman. The lunch rush at the House of Mendi & Madhbi in Abu Dhabi's Mussafah district. Workers from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

At the start of 2010, The National set out to observe and document a few of the myriad lives in the UAE.

Photographs by Rich-Joseph Facun and Galen Clarke. Videos by Razan Alzayani, Deepthi Unnirkishnan and Edythe Mcnamee. Design and development by Robert Carroll. Produced by Brain Kerrigan.